1971 Camaro Suspension - Goodmark Camaro, Part 5

Hang It All And Do It Right

The Goodmark Camaro is making good time towards making miles on the highway. Before we get too far, however, it's at the point of installing the best suspension components on the market for this car. We expect that these changes should make the Camaro handle like it was on rails, which goes along with the Bill Mitchell powerplant that will make it go like a rocket.

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As builders know it pays to use the best products and take your time. Our builder, Dale Etheredge subscribes to that theory, as you see in the photos, but he also knows that even when using the best and doing the job correctly, there are times when the builder has to make a change or two. This is not a criticism of the products installed on the car, it's just reality when components from a dozen or so aftermarket suppliers are put together on any kind of car. The engineering is top quality, but sometimes we just have to shave a little here, add a little there, and fab a new spacer or washer so all the parts fit without interference. Etheredge even takes care to make sure that after he builds it, someone else (maybe me) is able to work on it. Good idea.

Follow along as Dale shows us how to make this Goodmark Camaro a true handler.

MORE PHOTOS

Press this! It takes a bit of force to prep the springs; don't try this at home.

Power by "Armstrong" mounts the back of the rear spring.

Performance Suspension Technology (PST) springs get the hangers added and then these really slick units get installed at the Camaro's rear.

Up front we've already installed the Heidt's Hot Rod Shop tubular A-arms and QA-1 coilovers. The finish on these A-arms is almost too nice to keep hidden under the car.

Competition Engineering traction bars take their place. Take notice of the length of the U-bolts holding the hanger to the spring.

This is one of those adjustments we spoke of in the story. Only after the traction bars were completely installed, and the Stainless Steel brakes (rotors and calipers) were also installed, was it apparent there was interference with the bolts holding the calipers and the leaf spring. Okay for now, but not when any maintenance would be needed. Etheredge could have sent the rotors back to SSB and they would certainly have been able to re-locate the calipers higher by an inch or two, but the simplest way was to install 2-inch lowering blocks to move the spring away from the caliper. Besides that, the car will probably look better a bit lower. Of course it meant a full disassembly of the spring hanger and traction bar mount and use of longer U-bolts. It's called "doing the right thing."

This time we can hook up the traction bar and make it secure.

Starting to look like a suspension.

Goodmark, we've got a problem! This QA-1 shock just isn't going to fit around that spring and connect the right way. So, it's back to the drawing board, and the grinder, and a couple of other tools.

It's a tight fit, but it clears everything, is functional and maintainable (is that a real word?).

These Hotchkiss antisway bars are definitely beefy. If these don't hold the car on corners, we don't know what will. We have them in the front and rear.

Speaking of holding, these straps will keep our Rock Valley Stainless steel gas tank in place. We'll show you more about that install in another segment but we've had experience with dangling gas tanks, so take our word for it-hang the straps right!

As Dale finished up the suspension work, he installed the Lokar parking brake assembly and cable, and the stainless brake lines from Classic tube. More details that are almost too nice to hide under the car.

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